Hips and Thighs

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Athena413
Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For those of you who have lost a significant amount of size (not weight, necessarily), what do you feel helped you lose the most size in your thighs and hips?

I have several pairs of jeans that I could comfortably wear in the waist/legs, but I can't get them past my upper thighs and hips/lower abdomen/butt. Any suggestions?

(Please don't respond if you're just speculating - I'd really like to hear from some people who have actually experienced and overcome this problem...)

Replies

  • Kailuen
    Kailuen Posts: 58 Member
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    Running!
  • lilmisfit
    lilmisfit Posts: 860 Member
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    I lost weight in my hips/thighs by power walking and using a recumbent bike. Honestly, you can't spot reduce and you can't control where the fat decides to come off, but if you do enough cardio, lift weights, and burn enough calories, it will eventually come off.
  • healthymission92
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
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    For me it was mainly through my diet and spinning too :)
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
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    For me it was mainly through my diet and spinning too :)

    This is what I figured.

    I disagree that cardio alone (literally running your *kitten* off) is the way to go, especially since at some point cardio causes you to burn muscle, which is counterproductive to fat loss, and from everything I've read online it just seems to go away as you lose total body fat percentage - through diet and exercise...I like spinning because, while it's cardio, it's often also somewhat of a strength/interval ride.
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
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    Running!

    That's what worked for you? Or that's what you're suggesting?

    I was previously (before I started doing heavy lifting and cardio intervals) running 3x per week, doing races monthly, and even did a half marathon in March...as well as a couple months of training for it...so I'm not a total newb to running. However, it seems that no matter how much I run, the inches just don't come off my hips/thighs.
  • Alioth
    Alioth Posts: 571 Member
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    Weighted squat presses, sit-ups on a reclining board, mountain-climbers with a side twist, and the elliptical machine--especially the elliptical machine for high intensity at 20-45 min. Abs/core workouts have never done a thing for my stomach, but shrank my hips and thighs by inches, and strengthened my hip flexors, and tightened my lower back which also reduces hip size.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Small deficit, adequate protein, running and lifting heavy worked for me.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    Exercise :) all kinds helped me.

    But when I ate well and lost weight but did NOT work out, I saw most of the loss in my belly and upper body. I'm a pear shape, so this is not where i want to lose hah
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    A combination of everything -- sort of. Although for me I think it was mainly diet and running 30+ miles per week <-- that was when my hips/thighs were at their thinnest. But definitely diet is the most crucial I think.
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
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    Small deficit, adequate protein, running and lifting heavy worked for me.

    This is exactly what my new trainer has me doing, so maybe I should just give it some more time. :smile:
  • emg9
    emg9 Posts: 112
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    http://www.youtube.com/embed/v25YiAyol4o?autoplay=1 - do a lot of his workouts and this one seems to helping me fit into my old size 10's. a long with a healthy diet of course.
  • Kailuen
    Kailuen Posts: 58 Member
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    Yes, two years ago when I started running. I lost weight in my hips and thighs. I went from 10 to 8 then. :)
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Small deficit, adequate protein, running and lifting heavy worked for me.

    This except no running.

    Just continue what you are doing. They are our "problem areas" because the weight goes there first and comes off their last. Nothing you can really do about it.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Small deficit, adequate protein, running and lifting heavy worked for me.
    Exactly
  • eviegreen
    eviegreen Posts: 123 Member
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    Ugh, I'm right where you are right now. There's a pair of jeans I haven't been able to fit into for YEARS, and now I've lost enough weight that I can pull them up, button them comfortably, but there's still some tightness around my upper thighs that prevents me from wearing them. I've been doing strength training every day (30 Day Shred) and the inches are slowly coming off, so that's working for me. But it's definitely a problem area for me, too.

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